IT’S IN THE BLOOD. Two brothers from the same criminal family die within hours of each other, five miles apart, one on the edge of a Newcastle industrial estate, the other in a busy A & E department of a local hospital, unseen by the triage team. Both victims have suffered horrific injuries. Who wanted them dead? Will they kill again? Investigating these brutal and bloody killings leads DCI Kate Daniels to break some rules, putting her career as well as her life on the line.
As the body count rises in the worst torture case Northumbria Police has ever seen, the focus of the enquiry switches, first to Glasgow and then to Europe ending in a confrontation with a dangerous offender hell-bent on revenge.
My thoughts: starting with the grisly double murder of two brothers, tortured and dumped, this case has Kate and Hank heading all over the place – Glasgow, Edinburgh, Whitby and Spain, in the pursuit of justice.
The two men were sons of a notorious, now deceased, Scottish thug, and it seems their deaths are revenge killings. But no one can find their killers, have they gone to ground north of the border?
The case gets twistier and knottier when one of the killers turns up dead, is someone turning the tables on them? The trail leads to the Spanish coast – famous retirement haunt of many a British criminal and retiree. The dead Allen brothers’ father supposedly died out there, but Kate smells a rat…or a parakeet!
Another truly gripping and grisly installment of the Kate Daniels books, with Kate ordered to take some time off at the end of the case, but can she ever truly unwind?
Gallows Drop is Maria Hannah’s sixth gripping crime novel featuring DCI Kate Daniels.
At dawn on a lonely stretch of road, a body is found hanging from an ancient gallows the morning after a country show. Hours earlier, DCI Kate Daniels had seen the victim alive. With her leave period imminent, she’s forced to step aside when DCI James Atkins is called in to investigate. There’s bad blood between them.
When Kate discovers that Atkins’ daughter was an eyewitness to a fight involving the victim, the two detectives lock horns and he’s bumped off the case. It’s the trigger for a vicious attack on Kate, exposing a secret she’s kept hidden for years and unearthing an even darker one.
Shaken but undeterred, Kate sets out to solve a case that has shocked a close-knit village community. As suspects emerge, she uncovers a curious historical connection with a hangman, a culture of systematic bullying, a web of deceit and a deep-seated psychosis, any one of which could be motive for murder.
My thoughts: this is a horrible and senseless crime, the young man murdered and hung from the gibbet, even DCI Kate Daniels is shocked. And the connections to her one time nemesis DCI Atkins, doesn’t help. Atkins’ daughter Beth, who notably doesn’t use his last name, was best friends with the victim, and is clearly scared.
Kate is supposed to be going on a make or break holiday with Jo, but this case needs her. Atkins is her cover, a drunk, obnoxious man with serious anger issues, he wants to sweep the case under the carpet and pin it on his daughter’s boyfriend. Whether he’s guilty or not. Kate can’t let him do that. Thankfully her bosses have her back. Sadly, it might just be time though for her and Jo.
Hank is struggling, refusing to stay home and recover from his injuries on their last case, he’s still there for Kate, but also still meddling. Straining their friendship to its limits. And now Kate’s awful father is in hospital, seriously ill. With so much on her plate, can Kate solve the case, deal with Atkins and support her dad?
The case is complex and knotty, people’s relationships often are, and Atkins’ bull headed behaviour isn’t helping. Beth won’t tell anyone everything she knows, her fear is eating her alive and her secrets almost overwhelm her. Kate tries to be a friendly ear, but she’s desperate to catch the killer.
I wonder whether Kate will break at some point, she’s yet again put off the rest she needs and has been ordered to take, there’s so much going on and losing Jo will hurt.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own
